We Have An RV Emergency Then Move to Fort Myers

We were packed up and ready to go shortly after 9:00 a.m. this morning. I had talked to my sister last night who is in Fort Myers and she had invited us for dinner at the restaurant at the condo they are renting. I just had to call them this morning to be sure they had something Gordon could eat (gluten free). I had called and confirmed that they could accommodate him when Gordon looked at the right rear tire of the fifth wheel and noted it had lost air – 36 lb to be exact. So we pulled the RV up to the garage at the campground and tried to put air in but couldn’t get enough pounds in it to continue on our trip. Off to Goodyear in Bushnell – after 1 ½ hr wait and a screw taken out of the tire, patched and put back on, we were on our way – 2 hour later than expected. I had called my sister when we reached Goodyear and told her that we wouldn’t make dinner tonight. Plans on a day that we’re moving is just too much so from now on – no plans on moving days!

Thanks to the guys at the Bushnell Tire Co. for getting us back on the road and working us in to their busy schedule.

Our fifth wheel with the tire off and under repair

We arrived at Fort Myers RV Resort around 2:30 p.m. under mostly sunny skies and a high of 81F (27C). We had some traffic backup at our exit off I-75 and some construction along the street that we traveled off I-75 to get to the park but other than that we made fairly good time.

After checking in, we were taken to our site which we were happy to see was fairly large. The park itself is a good size so I should have enough place to walk in the mornings. We were set up including changing the mount for the TV on the ladder to a higher location by 4:15 p.m.

Our site at Fort Myers RV Resort

We Meet Canadian Icons of Rving and Tour the Area

I had a nice walk through the campground this morning and on my way back signed us up for another night here. It’s a very large campground with not many park models. It’s well laid out and the seasonal sites are very large for a Florida park. Even the short term sites aren’t a bad size. I can’t give you a temperature for this morning as the sun was on the thermometer but the radio said 50F (10C) although I think the station is probably in Orlando. It didn’t feel like 50!

We got our phone call right at 9:00 a.m. saying that Fort Myers Campground has a site for us for a month. I really hate booking for so long a period without seeing the campground first but since it was so difficult to find a spot (that might be telling us something), we’re there for a month regardless.

After lunch we drove around downtown Bushnell – it’s not much, most everything is out where we are near the interstate. After that we stopped off to meet Peggi and John McDonald. They are at the RV park across the street from us called Red Barn. They have been fulltime RVers for 22 years and are fellow Canadians. Their site – rvliving.net is a wealth of information. If you want to know everything about RVing, ask them. They also have written several books. I bought the first one, Spirit of the Open Road before we started this lifestyle and it answered most of my questions. We didn’t stay long as we were headed to the Gulf Coast just for a drive but it was good to finally meet them. If I have a question, I send Peggi an email and I always get the answer to my question.

John and Peggi McDonald in front of their motorhome

Lots of Spanish moss in the trees around here

Flowering bush within the park

The drive was nice as it was a beautiful sunny day and reached 75F (24C). We didn’t see much over there, couldn’t get near the Gulf, too many houses and buildings but we had a good afternoon.

Tallahassee to Bushnell

Our site at Blueberry Hill RV Resort

A canopy of live oak trees cover the road

A view of the river that runs through Floral City

It was only 32F but sunny when I got up this morning. We got on the road by 9:05 a.m. and decided not to drive so far today so I made a reservation at Blueberry Hill RV Park in Bushnell, FL. We arrived there around 1:00 p.m. Our 212 mile drive was under sunny skies with little wind. We were set up by 2:00 p.m. even setting up the internet. We get enough local TV channels that we decided not to set up the TV dish.

The good news is that this park is right across the street from a SuperWalMart. After I had a bit of a rest I walked over there and Gordon came and picked me up when I was finished.

I spent a while on the phone trying to locate a site for us in Fort Myers. It’s amazing to me that resorts in Florida can charge $1100+/month and get away with it and be full! We’re thinking this is our last trip to Florida with the RV, too many people and too expensive! This is one park that is supposed to get back to me tomorrow so we’re planning on spending another day here in Bushnell.

Just before sunset we drove over to Floral City about 14 miles away as there were some scenic live oak trees that met in a tunnel over the road. We also drove to a little river that had some wood storks and limpkins. On our way back we picked up an Asian salad at McDonald’s and a Southwest steak bowl at Taco Bell for dinner. Yummy!

We're Back in the Eastern Time Zone in Tallahassee, FL!

This is our site at Tallahassee RV Park

There are azalea bushes all around the park

A cold front blew in last night so it was only 46F (8C) when I got up this morning – mind you it was 6:30 a.m. Central time. We started to pack up around 7:00 a.m. and were on our way by 8:30 a.m. It hadn’t warmed up any and the wind was strong. There was serious consideration given to staying another day but we wanted to get through Mobile and Pensacola on Sunday so off we went.

It was bright and sunny the whole way and we reached a high of 61F (16C). We crossed into Florida around 10:00 a.m. and arrived at Tallahassee RV Park at about 3:00 p.m. Eastern time and since we weren’t setting up either satellite (both cable and wifi are free) we were set up by 3:30 p.m. It’s the satellites that take the time.

This is a nice little campground run by a couple from New Zealand. It’s not cheap though at $32/night but I expect that’s not the most expensive campground we’ll see as we continue south.

We relaxed for the rest of the day. I took a walk around the campground and photographed some of the pretty flowers and also got a pretty good shot of a cardinal with my camera which is rare other than reading my book and watching TV, that’s about it. It’s supposed to get down to freezing here tonight!

We leave tomorrow hoping to make Venice, FL. Haven’t looked at campgrounds yet.

Short Trip to Mobile

This is the Richards DAR House Museum - note the cast iron facade which is quite popular in the older part of Mobile

Part of the Mobile skyline

Today was mostly sunny & breezy. It was 58F (14C) when I got up shortly after 7:00 a.m. I took what will probably be my last walk in the bird sanctuary at least for this trip.
We’re heading east tomorrow so will probably forego my walk as we’ll want to get on the road as early as possible.

Late this morning we left to go into Mobile. It was very crowded downtown. There was some kind of chili cook-off going on and it was wall to wall people. We took some photos of some of the antebellum mansions, one of which is the Richards DAR House Museum (Daughters of the American Revolution), drove around the downtown area, then headed for Walmart where I picked up some groceries before heading back to Dauphin Island.

Gordon went out to photograph the eclipse tonight and got a good photo To see it, click here.

Bellingrath Gardens

I was up shortly after 7:00 a.m. today. It was 55F (13C) and partly sunny with a bit of wind. I walked in the bird sanctuary and along the boardwalk to the beach. There were a few birds around this morning.

I took this photo at the beach this morning

Today was to be our day to go into Mobile and see the city. However Bellingrath Gardens was recommended to us by Gayle and Breland whom we met in Louisiana and a blogging RVer friend, Carolyn so we decided to go there on the way.

We arrived in time for the 12 noon cruise on the Fowl River. This is a 45 minute cruise that explains the importance of the river and the delta grasses that grow there with respect to the Gulf and fresh and salt water rivers. We saw a few osprey and the cruise commentary was interesting but the best was definitely the gardens, probably the prettiest was the oriental gardens. They had an oriental bridge and some buildings as well that really helped with the theme. They also had one lotus blossom tree. The rest of the gardens were very pretty as well. The azaleas were just coming into bloom and the camellias were just about finished but there were lots of flowering kale and cabbage and all sorts of spring flowers. You would need to spend a whole day there to see everything and take your time.

We left there around 2:30 p.m. and decided to come home as we were tired and hungry (Gordon couldn’t get anything at the cafeteria that he could eat) so we decided to go into Mobile tomorrow.

We reached a high of 65F (18C) and the afternoon turned sunny and beautiful, perfect for walking around the gardens.

Expenses, Housework & Touring Around

February Expenses

Campgrounds (incl Electricity) - $339.21

Groceries (includes wine) - $300.57

Laundry - $20.50

Entertainment/Parking/Restaurants - $155.97

Truck Fuel - $372.94

Propane - $0.00

Repairs/Service RV/Truck - $144.34 (includes labour for installation of microwave & truck service)

Internet/TV/Cell/Insurance - $351.52

Medical/Dental - $0.00

Gifts - $0.00

Misc - $343.78 – The largest items were my new hard drive and getting my hair done – other amounts just misc expenses

Total - $2,028.83

We did much better on groceries this month however since we started traveling at the end of the month our fuel expenses are higher. Our electric bill for Fulton Oaks was $85.50 which was rather high but we had quite a bit of cold weather so the electric heater was running 24 hr/day for several days as well as during the nights for a lot of days as well. It’s still cheaper than buying propane!

We were supposed to have rain and thunderstorms after midnight last night and continuing all day today and tonight. I woke up early as I’ve been getting up early the last few mornings because we were traveling so got up and Gordon and I went for a walk since it hadn’t started to rain yet. We found the beach which is accessible through the campground as is the Audubon bird sanctuary. The beach is not a ‘walking’ beach with mostly loose sand and the clouds were looking very heavy so we headed for the bird sanctuary and took the swamp trail when it started to rain a bit. We headed back to the RV. I made a stop to get some quarters for the laundry at the office and the rain stopped so I continued walking around the park. It was 65F (18C) and very humid.

This morning I did a couple of loads of laundry and vacuumed. Gordon went out to the bird sanctuary to take some photos but I decided to stay behind and rest my back for a while. Vacuuming and standing around always kills it and I stood for quite a while talking to a couple from Indiana when I was doing the laundry.

Around noon I checked the temperature and it was 80F( 27C). It was sunny but the skies were fairly dark. I had heard from someone this morning that the thunderstorms were passing north of us but with the humidity it feels like we might get some sort of action in that regard. We actually had the air conditioner on today. We had tornado watches for much of the day as well.

This afternoon we did some driving around and walked around another birding area but the birds haven’t arrived yet. This area is apparently a migratory stopoff for most birds and in a couple of weeks it will be teeming but unfortunately we can’t stay that long!

We also drove back to the west end of the island and saw the devastation that two hurricanes in less than ten years have caused the housing on the island. There are no trees or anything to shelter the houses. There’s a photo below of one of them.

We stopped at the local tourist office and obtained some information on the island. Behind the tourist bureau there are several camellia trees. Here’s a photo of one of the flowers. Very beautiful!

By the way for anyone watching the weather in this area, a tornado did hit Enterprise, AL but that’s about 300 miles from where we are – 13 people were killed including some kids in the local high school whose roof collapsed while the kids were inside. Devastating!

Now at Dauphin Island, Alabama

Our site at Dauphin Island Campground

We left Hammond, LA this morning around 9:15 a.m. under mostly cloudy skies and 61F (16C). The temperature did make it to 77F (25C) on our travels.

Dauphin Island is a barrier island located three miles south of Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico. Entry to the island is made by crossing a three mile long high rise bridge which was opened in July 1982 after the original draw bridge was destroyed by Hurricane Frederic in 1979. Many attractions are located on the east end of the island including Fort Gaines, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island Campground (where we’re staying), Audubon Bird Sanctuary and numerous boat launch sites. There are beautiful beaches of white sand (but not as white as Mexico Beach, FL) public golf course and parks are added attractions located on the west end of the island.

Today after getting set up at our site, we did some exploring around the island and spent some time at the Audubon bird sanctuary. We didn’t see a lot of birds but it is a beautiful spot and below are a very few of the photos I took. Too bad it wasn’t sunny. Dauphin Island is the first landfall encountered by many birds as they migrate north from South America, and as a consequence many species can be found resting there before continuing their journey.

We also took some photos at the fishing pier at the western side of the island and had a bit of a sunset. This guy was out parasailing and I just happened to catch him as the sun was starting to set.

There are lots of places to explore on the island and plenty of things to see in Mobile itself including antebellum houses.

We are officially here until Friday but the weather is not supposed to be too good tomorrow so we may be staying here until Monday (yet to be decided).

Tickfaw State Park

Wow, did I ever sleep last night. I don’t remember waking up at all until Gordon left this morning to go and shoot photos. That’s unusual for me. This morning when I got up it was foggy and 55F (13C). I did my walk around the park. This seems to be a typical country park, sites are rather haphazard, no pavement, grassy sites and sites on gravel. The ones that back on the lake would be nice. The bayou they claim to have is a ditch but the lake is pretty if it didn’t have power lines running across it. It’s adequate for our needs and only about $15/night with Passport America.

This is the lake in the campground taken in the morning fog

I napped for most of the morning. The last two days of getting up early has really gotten to me plus not sleeping well the night before we travel. However, this afternoon we went to Tickfaw State Park which isn’t far from Hammond and walked a couple of the trails. We didn’t see a lot but it was a beautiful day and it was nice to be out in nature.

This little fellow popped up over the side of the boardwalk railing to say hi

Me on one of the trails

Louisiana swamp

I think we’ll spend a relaxing night tonight and tomorrow head for Dauphin Island, Alabama where we’ll spend two days. There are supposed to be thunderstorms while we’re there and we’ll be right out on the point in the Gulf of Mexico!

From Beaumont, TX to Hammond, LA

What a beautiful day today. We left Beaumont, Texas at 9:00 a.m. under sunny skies and 65F (18C). The temperature rose to 77F (25C) on our travels and we arrived at Punkin Park near Hammond, Louisiana around 1:15 p.m. and were completely set up complete with both TV and internet satellite by 3:00 p.m. This trip we managed about 12.1 mpg as there was very little wind. Our trip west on I-10 in January 2005 led us to really not look forward to this trip through Louisiana but work has been done on the road although it still did have its very bumpy spots.

I was up this morning at 6:30 a.m. as I wanted to walk and have breakfast before we left. I walked all around the RV park. It was quite foggy but when the sun came up the fog soon burned off.

This RV park is right on I-12 which runs north of Lake Pontchartrain so the traffic is quite heavy and we’re very close to it. We’re here for two days. There doesn’t seem to be much around here as far as scenery goes although Louisiana itself is quite scenic with its bayous and Spanish moss hanging from the trees. The park has its own bayou and a lake so it should be nice to walk around in the morning. We’re about an hour from New Orleans but at this time we don’t have any thoughts about going to see it.

Henderson Swamp runs along I-10 just west of Baton Rouge

I-10 is basically a very long bridge between Lafayette and Baton Rouge

Here is our site at Punkin Park

Tonight we were met here at the park by photographer friends of Gordon’s, Gayle and Breland and we all went to Tope La, a French/American restaurant in Hammond for dinner. The food was excellent and I had to bring a doggie bag home. Thanks Gayle and Breland for dinner and it was great meeting you!

Gayle and Breland

Overnighting in Beaumont, Texas

We left Fulton Oaks RV Park this morning at 9:00 a.m. and arrived at Gulf Coast RV Park in Beaumont, TX and were set up by about 2:50 p.m. Setup sure is a breeze when you don’t have to hook up the satellite dishes! They have free wifi and cable here so we’re using that as we’re only stopping for the night.

I had a short walk this morning but only down to the ranch to see if the steer was out and indeed it was and facing me for a change so I got some photos. Gordon had gone out for sunrise and got an excellent photo of the blue herons leaving the live oaks where they spend the night. The weather was rather cloudy and cool when I got up but it was early (before 7:00 a.m.) but it warmed up on our trip to 74F (23C) and was sunny most of the way. We had quite a strong wind from the north until we hit somewhere around Houston so we were lucky to get just over 10 mpg on this trip.

After set up I took a walk around the park but other than that we just relaxed.

I’ve made reservations for the next four nights – Monday and Tuesday we’re at Punkin Park in Hammond, Louisiana and are meeting up with some photographer friends of Gordon’s. She was in Cloudcroft, New Mexico when we were in Alamogordo last year but we never met up. She has recommended we stop at Dauphin Island, Alabama which is near Mobile so I’ve booked two nights there (Wednesday and Thursday). We’ll get to Florida eventually!

The photo is of our site at Gulf Coast RV Park.

Our Last Day in Rockport/Fulton

Taken at Rockport Beach - flocks of black skimmers, gulls and terns of all kinds in a frenzy!

Part of Rockport's downtown area

The bird convention moved to one of the fishing piers (taken along the Beach Road)

This morning was 66F (19C) cloudy, windy and humid but turned into a really beautiful sunny day with a high of 84F (29C) and a beautiful bright blue sky (an Ottawa summer sky). This morning and early afternoon I got the laundry done then we drove around Rockport taking photos. Gordon had a request from a web designer in the area for some photos so he was trying to comply.

Gordon went out again for sunset but I decided to stay behind and enjoy what was left of the beautiful day!

I made a reservation for tomorrow night at Beaumont, Texas at the Gulf Coast RV Resort. They have free cable and wifi so we won’t have to hook up any of the satellite dishes. It will make for a faster escape on Monday morning.

Around the Area

This morning was 64F (18C), cloudy and humid with some small patches of rain. After breakfast, I went out to get groceries and look around Bealls for the last time on this trip. I saw a pretty little electric blue suit but other than weddings, can’t imagine where I’d wear it with this lifestyle. It had some bling on the collar and around the bottom of the skirt and it was on sale. In a former life I probably would have bought it. On to Walmart for groceries, then home for lunch.

This is the horse I see almost every morning on my walk

This afternoon we took a drive to Bayside via our sandhill crane route but only saw three sandhills and not much else. When we came back we stopped at Rockport Harbor and walked around there taking some photos then on to Fulton Harbor where I took some photos of the oyster boats unloading their booty and the Skimmer arriving back from its Whooping Crane Tour. We stopped at Driftwood RV Haven on the way back to see what it was like but the roads are too narrow and the sites are too small.

Sandhill cranes

Great Egret under the dock at Rockport Harbor

Live oak trees along the Beach Road in Rockport - this is where some of the birds sleep at night

We both have mixed feelings about leaving Rockport. I think we’d both be content to stay for another month but Florida calls so tomorrow we’ll be getting things ready to leave on Sunday.

Fulton Mansion & Other Things

The day started out foggy and damp again but 62F (17C). I didn’t take my camera with me as I took enough fog photos yesterday. Lo and behold when I got to the ranch down the street there was the steer and the burro. I haven’t seen them for two weeks and the one time I don’t have my camera….. So back to the RV, got my camera and walked back but with the fog the photos aren’t that good and also because she had her butt facing us.

We relaxed for the morning and this afternoon went to see Fulton Mansion which was on our list of things to do in the area. George Fulton was a big cattle baron in the late 1800’s and his home is now a museum. I posted photos of the mansion a couple of weeks ago. It was interesting to see the furniture and items but history is not my thing. After that we drove to Goose Island State Park and St. Charles Bay just going to see our favorite sites as it won’t be long before we’re leaving the area.

This is Fulton Mansion from the back garden

This great blue heron had just caught his dinner and he did eat it - taken at the fishing pier at Goose Island State Park

Back to Corpus Christi

We had some rain again overnight and this morning was damp and foggy but 62F (17C). When I got back from my walk the back of my hair was damp from the heavy fog.

I took this photo of the fog in the trees this morning

We spent most of the day around the RV, Gordon went out once as the fog was burning off to get some photos but I stayed around and read both inside and out.

Late this afternoon we headed back to Corpus Christi to take our photos of downtown and get some twilight photos as well. We also had dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack on one of the T-Heads in the Corpus Christi Marina. A T-Head is basically a street that runs off the Shoreline Drive and runs between the slips for the boats ending on the far side of the slips. There are some restaurants there which is where Joe’s Crab Shack is located. We sat on “Joe’s Big Deck” and enjoyed being outside on the water. I had crawfish etouffe which was excellent. Gordon said his burger was excellent as well and I don’t hear that too often about burgers. His usual comment is that they aren’t 100% beef. This one passed the ‘where’s the beef’ test!

This is me in the Historic District

We came across a couple of beautiful rose trees in the Historic District

This is me sitting on the promenade that runs all along Corpus Christi Bay and the marina

This is where we had dinner and below is the Joe's Big Deck sign

This is my little red purse I bought this week. It's really cute and little but still holds everything I need. I've never had a red purse!

Once the fog burned off it was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze and our high was 83F (28C).

Nothing Doing Today!

These dogs are sitting outside someone's park model here at Fulton Oaks

We had some rain overnight but I woke up to 62F (17C) and mostly cloudy. Today Gordon went with me on my walk so we did the usual walk around Farmers Circle and up to the end of Lone Star’s paved road as well as around the park.

The day was mostly cloudy with some sunny breaks with a high of 73F (23C). I sat outside and read a bit, then moved inside, read some more and napped. I’ve read almost a whole book today as of writing this blog. I went for another walk around the park this afternoon where I photographed the turkey vulture below sitting on top of the swing by the pond in the park.

Maybe tomorrow we’ll do something interesting, then again, maybe not!